http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/washington/12agent.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1213474182-uYXRlRemab/5RCNKigEWUQThere is something dirty about this (PW) McCain, selling his soul, or getting the lead role in the next block buster by laying on his back.
Lawmakers Seek to Close Foreign Lobbyist Loopholes
SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE THIS
PRINT
REPRINTS
SHARE
By BARRY MEIER
Published: June 12, 2008
Loopholes that lobbyists for foreign clients sometimes use to keep their activities under wraps would be closed under legislation that two Democratic senators are expected to offer on Thursday.
Lobbying by foreign agents — and the lack of disclosures about their activities — is an issue that has dogged the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, who in recent weeks has seen aides resign because of their ties to foreign governments and private interests.
The legislation, by Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, would require lobbyists who work for foreign-owned companies to disclose more about those relationships than they currently do.
It also would require those who meet with American officials outside the country on behalf of foreign politicians to register as lobbyists, a step that existing law does not require.
“The idea you could lobby an American citizen and that it would not be disclosed is really very troubling,” Mr. Schumer said in a telephone interview.
The issue of foreign lobbying has flared up in the current presidential campaign because of past dealings abroad by several former lobbyists working for Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
For instance, a lobbying firm owned by Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, has worked in recent years for a Ukraine politician, Viktor Yanukovich. Both Mr. McCain and the Bush administration supported the opponent of Mr. Yanukovich, who had close ties to Vladimir V. Putin, then the president of Russia and now prime minister.
During this time, however, Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, never registered as a lobbyist for Mr. Yanukovich even though Paul Manafort, Mr. Davis’s business partner, had met with the United States ambassador in Kiev on Mr. Yanukovich’s behalf.
In a related development, Mr. McCain may have first become aware of Davis Manafort’s activities in Ukraine as far back as 2005. At that time, a staff member at the National Security Council called Mr. McCain’s Senate office to complain that Mr. Davis’s lobbying firm was undercutting American foreign policy in Ukraine, said a person with direct knowledge of the phone call who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A campaign spokesman, when asked whether such a call had occurred, referred a reporter to Mr. McCain’s office. The spokesman there, Robert Fischer, did not respond to repeated inquiries.
Such a call might mean that Mr. McCain has been long aware of Mr. Davis’s foreign clients. Mr. Davis took a leave from his firm at the end of 2006.
The current law governing foreign lobbying, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, requires those representing a foreign government or foreign officials in the United States to inform the Department of Justice. The act does not cover meetings abroad with United States officials.
The law was enacted in the late 1930s in an effort to flush out Nazi propagandists working in the United States. As a result, several experts have said, the law is outdated and fails to reflect the current global nature of lobbying.
“Clearly, the law needs updating to encompass the expanding lobbying that is going on beyond the country’s borders,” said Jan Baran, a lawyer in Washington who specializes in lobbying issues and ones related to campaign finance.
The other provision of the proposal — the requirement that lobbyists working for foreign-owned companies make fuller disclosures — could have even broader impact.
Currently, lobbyists who represent such businesses are exempt from registering under the foreign agents act if they register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which governs lobbying for domestic companies.
But the foreign lobbying law requires far greater disclosures than the domestic one, requiring lobbyists to publicly file added documents like the contracts they sign with foreign clients. The new bill would remove the exemption.
Ms. McCaskill said in a statement that she believed such fuller disclosures should take place so lawmakers and the public could better understand how lobbyists for foreign entities were trying to influence Congress.
“If they want to take foreign clients,” she said, “they must be willing to claim them.”
Kenneth Gross, a lawyer in Washington who specializes in lobbying issues, said that such a change would produce a major increase in the amount of information that lobbyists for foreign companies would have to disclose.
“That would be a huge change,” said Mr. Gross, who added that he expected companies that have foreign ownership interests to oppose the measure.
